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Making It Work Better:Presentation
on Work Family Issues
Partnering with unions to put families first. www.working-families.org
CHILD CARE
What’s happening in families today?
Three-quarters of all children under age 5 who have working parents are in some type of child care.
One in ten children aged 6-12 are alone or with a sibling under age 13 during the summer.
Partnering with unions to put families first. www.working-families.org
CHILD CARE & INCOME
Low income families spend more.Low income families spend 14% of their earnings on child care while higher income families spend 7%.
High income families have greater access to quality or standard child care.Children from higher income families much more likely to be in center-based care, while children in lower income families are more likely to be cared for by a relative.
Chart 1: Child care
costs for low
income families
14%
86%
Chart 2: Child care
costs for high
income families
7%
93%
Partnering with unions to put families first. www.working-families.org
Did you know that 23 million Americans care for elderly relatives?
Elder care costs families more than $659,000 over a lifetime in lost wages, social security and pension contributions.
$567,000 in lost wages.
$67,000 in retirement contributions.
$25,000 in social security benefits.
Source: MetLife “Juggling Act Study 1999”
ELDER CARE
Partnering with unions to put families first. www.working-families.org
84% of all workers/caregivers make adjustments to their work schedules…
Taking sick leave or vacation time
Decreasing scheduled work hours
Taking leaves of absence
Switching from full time to part-time work
Resigning or retiring.Source: MetLife “Juggling Act Study 1999.”
WORK TIME
Partnering with unions to put families first. www.working-families.org
WORK TIME
More than 1/3 of working women with partners or spouses work different shifts than their partner/spouse.
80% of men work more than 40 hours a week.
Men and women who work overtime average an additional 6.63 hours a week.
Partnering with unions to put families first. www.working-families.org
FAMILY LEAVE
47% of workers in the US have no paid sick time.
86 million workers do not have paid sick time that they can use to care for a sick child.
34% of parents reported that caring for their sick child led to difficulties at work.
84% of workers say it is important to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Partnering with unions to put families first. www.working-families.org
High Turnover – people leave jobs because they are caregivers
Higher Education & Training Costs – associated with high turnover
Time Lost - to additional phone calls, partial absenteeism when employee deals with crisis (about 3 days per year)
Caregivers average 6 days absence per year due to caregiving responsibilities
Partnering with unions to put families first. www.working-families.org
Why should work and family benefitsbe important to employers?
Supporting work and family initiatives brings positive return on investments for unions and employers.
Any funds spent by the employer to help with caregiving have a payback to the employer of 2.5 to 5 times the cost. Source: Pfizer, 1997
Partnering with unions to put families first. www.working-families.org
Baby Boomers 77 million
Generation X 44 million
Generation Y 60 million
Who is going to take care of you?
Partnering with unions to put families first. www.working-families.org
CAREGIVERS PROFILE
Typical caregiver is a married woman in her mid-40s who works full-time.
Just over half of all caregivers are employed full-time.
12% are employed part-time, and 16% are retired
The average caregiver provides 18 hours of care a week.
Partnering with unions to put families first. www.working-families.org
Almost one in five caregivers provide either “constant care” or at least 40 hours of care a week.
Many caregivers will spend as many or more years caring for aging relatives as they spent caring for their own children.
Partnering with unions to put families first. www.working-families.org
More than half of employed caregivers have modified their work schedules or made other accommodations to their jobs in order to meet caregiving responsibilities.
One-fifth of caregivers have quit their jobs permanently or temporarily.
Partnering with unions to put families first. www.working-families.org
Are you ready for caregiving?
Can you make it work?
www.working-families.orgPartnering with unions to put families first.
